I've about had it up to here....

[SumDumGuy]

FWIW...
Last year I cleared the fuel in the carb of a 10hp I have. Kept the gas in the can (10%E - treated with Seafoam) and stored 'em both out under the eve of a shed.
This spring I hooked up the motor and the gas and within 2 pulls it was running perfect.
I dunno if I completely believe this ethanol problem stuff and I can certainly say I am not going to put "old" gas for my outboard in my automobiles (my autos are worth a little bit more than my outboards).
However, luckily enough there is a station nearby that has real gas (88 octane) so I won't have to worry about it anymore either way.

 

[Bucket69]

I don't know if there really is any doubt that gas that contains the new higher amount of ethanol will end up with a higher water content than the low ethanol gas. But even the E10 or E15 gas doesn't go "bad" any quicker than the E5 gas. The problem is what the water in the gas does to the inside of the carb. Even if you have gas in something that you can't get to run, that gas will work fine in something with a clean carb.

I'm no expert, and only know what I've read (and Lord knows there are enough studies done on the ethanol problems), but I have seen first hand what it can do. I had a Yamaha 4 wheeler that has a 2 piece float valve. The needle is what looked like brass, and the seat was a soft white metal. The little extra water in the gas played hell with that setup. I could put the same gas in my Honda dirt bike and they could both sit for the same amount of time and the Yamaha carb would get covered with white corosion. The Honda would still be fairly clean. My guess is that eventually the manufacturers will come up with something that will be a little more resistant to the effects of ethanol, but the older stuff will still give you fits.

 

[Cagey]

Interesting thread.

I have a 2003 4 stroke Yamaha 25. No problems in years.

I never use ethanol gas. I always use stabilizer. and I also always use seafoam in the gas to keep all fuel line gum dissolved from tank, line, and carb.

And I start the motor at least once a month, sometimes twice a month. I just roll the boat out of the garage by hand and fire it up and let it run a few minutes and shut it down and roll it back in the garage and forget about it. Even through the winter I do this. I never disconnect the fuel line. Never try and get the fuel out of the carb. And so far no problems. Runs like a bat out of hell every time I take it out. Always ready to go. Guess I have been fortunate in this respect.